Under flak for scrapping internal assessment marks for class 10 students, which was said to be the main reason behind a dip in SSC pass percentage this year, the Maharashtra government Tuesday announced that it would augment the number of overall seats for class 11 admissions.

The move will provide a level-playing field for the students of the state SSC board, and increase probability for them to secure admissions in their colleges of choice.

The SSC students are battling higher cut-offs for admission in FYJC (first year junior College) as they are facing competition from the students of ISCE and CBSE boards whose scores included internal assessment marks.

Newly-appointed School Education Minister Ashish Shelar told the Legislative Assembly that the number of seats for science stream in Mumabi will be increased by 5 per cent and eight per cent for Arts and Commerce stream.

In Nagpur and Pune divisions, the number of seats will go up by ten per cent in all streams--Arts, Commerce and Science.

Shelar said the decision has been taken in the view of resentment over scrapping of the internal assessment marks for the SSC board students.

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